Education, health benefiting more from volunteerism

The education, health and environment sectors have been identified by individuals and member organisations of the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS) as sectors in which volunteers are creating the greatest impact.

However, the organisations noted that the tourism industry and national security are areas that require more voluntary input.

The organisations, which are mainly non-governmental, presented their findings following a breakout session on the topic 'Volunteers, Creating National Impact' at a volunteer conference hosted recently by the CVSS at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston.

"We believe [that the] tourism and security sectors have the least volunteers because there is no sense of community. It is believed that tourism, especially, is a paid sector and is seen as lucrative, and for security, people are fearful for their lives, so they tend not to volunteer in these areas," said the group, led by Roberta Ellis, country director of CUSO International.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS

Assessing whether there were more sector volunteers than community volunteers, the group agreed that there were more community volunteers and pointed out that proximity, relatability and familiarity influenced community volunteerism.

Several suggestions were made by the group to help encourage more persons to become involved in volunteerism. These included partnerships, with various foundations; more public awareness, the identification of champions of volunteerism, and the highlighting of the benefits to be derived from volunteerism.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Meanwhile, another group noted that appraisal and self-reporting are critical as they serve to enlighten volunteers about their contributions.

Saffrey Brown, chair of the CVSS, said that the recommendations made will be documented and presented to stakeholders in an effort to drive policy on creating a charter/declaration for volunteerism in Jamaica.

In speaking on the importance of the conference, Brown said, "It is important that we understand the value of volunteerism in Jamaica and then use that information to ensure that volunteerism is encouraged and promoted through an enabling environment."

The conference was held in collaboration with the US Peace Corps under the theme 'Strengthening Volunteerism'.